Castleford Tigers: Blake Austin, Greg Eden injuries explained as coach Danny Ward discusses ‘unacceptable’ defeat
Castleford coach Danny Ward says he hopes to have Blake Austin and Greg Eden back at his disposal for next week’s trip to Warrington.
Ward enjoyed a fine start to his Castleford coaching career last week with a crucial win over relegation rivals Wakefield – but the Tigers were brought back down to earth on Friday night with a 34-4 home humbling to champions St Helens.
The Tigers were without new signing Blake Austin (hip) and last week’s hat-trick hero Greg Eden (muscle issue) due to injury.
But Ward is hopeful that both players will be available for next Saturday’s trip to Warrington, saying: “Blake didn’t quite pull up as expected last week but hopefully he will be OK with a week’s rest and full treatment.”
Meanwhile, winger Will Tate left the action in the opening stages against Saints and left the stadium in a protective boot, with Ward saying the youngster will be assessed further in the coming days.
Castleford boss Danny Ward reacts to ‘unacceptable’ defeat
Ward, who has been appointed Tigers head coach until the end of the season, gave an honest assessment in his post-match press conference, saying his side’s performance wasn’t acceptable.
“Losing at home by 30 points is not acceptable for us as a club and the boys are feeling that in the dressing room,” Ward said.
“There was a lot of energy but it was hard to make the players believe at half-time because a lot of the things we’d been working on I thought we were nailing for long periods.
“I don’t think the scoreline quite reflected it at half-time but that’s St Helens – you make a couple of errors with the ball and they punish you and that’s what they did tonight.”
Castleford and Wakefield both suffered defeats on Friday night, meaning the Tigers still sit two points above bottom-placed Trinity in the Super League table with four games of the season to play.
Castleford face Warrington (A), Hull (H), Wigan (A) and Leeds (A) in their remaining games, whilst Wakefield take on St Helens (H), Catalans (H), Leigh (A) and Hull KR (H) in their final four games of the regular season.